Essay
Oppression in Tsarist Russia Coursework A grade
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- Unit 4 - Historical Enquiry
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A piece of coursework comparing and evaluation the oppressive manors of Russian Tsars
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4386 WORDS USED 1The rule of the Tsars began in 1547 with Ivan IV, ending on 15th March 1917 after the Bolshevik
revolution. Due to political arrangement relying on monarchy, members of high ranking classes
remained fairly immune to oppression, such the land-owning Boyar who influenced politics until
Peter the Great's reformations in 1698 1, whilst workers experienced a plethora of repression, the
action of subduing someone by force 2. due to the tripartite societal structure. It was a common method
of maintaining peace and during the reign of the Tsars and therefore allowed for a long-lasting reign.
Levels of oppression varied and are difficult to standardize to decide which of the Tsars was the
‘most’ repressive so the oppression must be looked at economically, socially and politically. However
due to factors such as heavy social oppression towards the Jewish community and laws against
socialism, Alexander III takes the title of the most oppressive Tsar.
One of the most obvious methods of repression came in the form of social oppression; the controlling
of individuals, groups and communities through techniques such as information control and
manipulation of local leaders.3
Alexander IIIs (13 March 1881- 1 November 1894) opposed many minorities (though particularly the
Jews) due to the assassination of his father, resulting in a complete turn from liberation of surfs and
religious unity supported by Alexander II. Hopes and dreams of an accepting Russia crumbled due to
a dictator who can be remembered as one of the most oppressive Tsars between 1801-1917. Under
Alexander III, it was particularly Jews and Poles who remained oppressed due to his strive for
Russification, the process of transforming non-Russian communities into those that favour the
Russian language and culture, 4 as well as nationalism and orthodoxy in the hopes of ‘catching up’
with the likes of Germany, who had entered modernisation. Social changes such as Russification
regarding territory outside of Russia began in 1881 5 resulting in the encouragement of the Russian
language in foreign countries, to make communities ‘more Russian’ and required the eradication of
other belief systems opposing those housed in Russian culture. This difference in beliefs and
ideologies resulted in a variety of measures enforced by Alexander III to suppress minorities.
It was the Jewish community who remained a target after the assassination of the previous Tsar due to
one of the assassins being rumoured to be Jewish, though her importance in the events was
exaggerated to fit the anti-semitic rhetoric of Russia, showing the high level of social repression of
minorities through misinformation, practically opening them to unjust attacks from a monarchy-
favouring society.6 A country-wide threat of the ‘Jewish Plague’ spread. This began the carrying out
pogroms, mob attacks on the Jewish community which had begun as early as 1821 with the Odessa
pogrom7 but significantly grew in numbers after 1881. Pogroms were condoned by Alexander, against
the Jewish people with over 200 cities such as Czestochowa, affected and the attacks continuing even
up to 1902, after Alexander III had long left his position as Tsar, showing the normalization
Alexander III allowed the anti-semitic attitude to develop. Russian pogroms continued long after the
rule of Alexander III, up to 1906 in Siedlice 8, showing the long term effect of the unjust oppression
Alexander III imposed on his people9. A particularly disastrous pogrom occurred in Kiev on 26th
April 188110, lasting for 3 days and consisting of sporadic violence as a result of Alexander IIs death.
1 Kelley, J. (1991). Makers of the Western Tradition. New York: St. Martin's. p. 29.
2 Oxford learners dictionary
3 Glasberg, Shannon, Davita, Deric (2011). Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and the State.
4 Orlando Figes A People’s Tragedy; The Russian Revolution 1891-1924
5 C N Trueman "Russification" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site
6 Arthur Morius Francis, Nihilism: Philosophy of Nothingness(2015), p. 64.
7 Odessa pogroms Archived January 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at the Center of Jewish Self-
Education "Moria".
8 Paul R. Mendes-Flohr; Jehuda Reinharz (1995). The Jew in the modern world: a documentary
history.
9 Zionist Organization, Die Judenpogrome in Russland, 2 vols. (1909);
10 Pogrom (Virtual Jewish Encyclopedia (in Russian)
, 4386 WORDS USED 2
The Tsarist authorities showed no attempt at ending the terror and didn’t protect the Jews of Kiev 11,
showing an example of oppression and lack of protection due to religious beliefs from Alexander III.
Pogrom popularisation began due to the Southern-Russian Workers’ Union mass distribution of
leaflets reading “one should beat him [Jews] because he is robbing the people, sucking the blood
of the working man”12. The lagging economy and ancestral debt contributed to the riots. The line
from the leaflet shows how the monarchy had used Jews as a scapegoat for the poor treatment of the
majority within society, thus opening them to violent attacks. Alexander III manipulated the state,
creating an impression that Jews had become a threat to the working class instead of a victim of a
corrupt system. This gives the source value as it showcases manipulation and denial of the truth
within the Russian state under Alexander III, showing the public humiliation and oppression Jews had
faced. The direct quotation had to go through the process of translation, indicating that some of its
value as a source may have been lost.
Hatred towards Jews became the initial motive behind issuing the May Laws. Jews were restricted to
small settlements in the Pale13, existing between 1791 til 1917, which they were completely forbidden
from leaving in most cases, resulting in great oppression. Alexander III isolated an entire religion due
to religious belief, showing the social oppression of his regime. What broke these laws was the
Revolution of 1917, though after that anti-Semitism within Russia and Europe continued, and still
does.14 Alexander III caused riots against a minority within his country, causing injury due to the
countries grudge after an assassination. Though pogroms had been occurring for years, he did come to
normalise it. Also pogroms didn't happen within modern countries but the backwardness of Russia
explains this violence. The Monarchy itself presents Russia as a traditional country and maybe the
God-given right to rule of Alexander III completely distorted the true horror that is supporting a man
who calls for mass oppressed.
However social oppression was not directed only towards the Jews. Alexander III also grew a distaste
towards leftist ideologies and demands of change in the constitution. This could be seen as a direct
challenge to Alexander III’s rule. Activism became completely banned, after the August 27 1882
censorship laws15, preventing expression of distate towards the ruling power, who made no distinction
between terrorism and activism. Censorship within the media was tightened meaning publishers and
writers with liberal ideas in their work were punished. Socially, all those who didn't fit the bracket of
wealthy, influential, orthodox Russians remained at a disadvantage and state of oppression during the
rule of Alexander III.
The repression of minorities, however, had been occurring even prior to Alexander III. Social
repression of the Jews, as well as the Gypsy community and Poles, hit a high at the reign of Nicholas I
(in power 1825-1855) who controlled their right to religious freedom. David Saunders refers to the
reign of Nicholas I as the “Apogee of autocracy” 16, stating that it was under Nicholas that the system
of absolute power hit its peak. Support for such a claim comes from oppressive treatment towards
uprising and protest in the hopes of retaining that state of autocracy and harming many smaller
countries such as the abolition of autonomy in Bessarabia in 1928, Poland in 1930, and the abolition
of the autonomous Jewish government of Qahal in 1943 17 in an expansion of the Russian territory.
Saunders' interpretation of the events comes from the year 1993, two years after the opening of the
11 Eurêka, Anti-Semitism In Russia Eurêka, the 21st Century Guide to Knowledge.
12 M. Kishkinky, "The Attitude of the Southern-Russian Workers' Union toward the Jews (1880-
1881)" in Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2 (June 1982), p. 206.
13 "This day, May 15, in Jewish history". Cleveland Jewish News.
14 Sean McMeekin The Russian Revolution; A New History. P. 138
15 Michael Aronson, "The Attitudes of Russian Officials in the 1880s toward Jewish Assimilation
and Emigration." Slavic Review
16 David Saunders Russia in the Age of Reaction and Reform 1801-1881 (p.285)
17 W. Bruce Lincoln, The Romanovs (The Dial Press: New York, 1981) p. 411.
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